Fern Sidman reports from New York City.

New York – (Dec 30) – Bellicosity and hubris filled the cold night air in New York City, as hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of the Israeli Consulate on East 42nd Street and Second Avenue to voice their perspective on the Israeli assault on Hamas terrorist strongholds in Gaza. The Israeli air strikes continue unabated for a fourth straight day, with no clear end in sight as Hamas terrorists and their Palestinian supporters fired long-range Kassam rockets into southern Israel. Today, a Kassam rocket hit a kindergarten in the city of Be'er Sheva but the building was vacant at the time.

Thus far, six Israelis have been killed by the Hamas rockets; five civilians and one solider.  Over 700 pro-Hamas demonstrators, many carrying or draped in Palestinian flags held signs saying, "Stop the Genocide in Gaza" and "End Israeli Apartheid" as they chanted "Free, free Palestine" and "Palestine Will Never Die." Comprised of several organizations including the ANSWER Coalition, the Muslim American Society, the Free Palestine Alliance, the League for Revolutionary Justice, the National Council of Arab Americans, Al-Awda, and the International Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the demonstrators expressed their support for Hamas rule in Gaza and excoriated Israel for launching a military assault. "The Zionist aggressors and their US imperialist backed supporters must stop murdering innocent Palestinian civilians," said Mustafa Jawil, 23, an American-born Muslim and Columbia University student. "We are calling upon the entire world to continue exerting pressure on Israel to halt their attacks on Gaza and to allow for humanitarian aid to arrive there," he continued. 

On the opposite side of East 42nd Street, approximately 150 pro-Israel demonstrators representing the campus Zionist activist organization "Stand With Us" and other Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of Israel gathered for a counterprotest. Holding signs saying, "Hamas: Stop the Aggression" and "Israel Must Defend Itself", the tone of the protest was decidedly more sedate as protestors chanted, "Peace: Yes, Terror: No." "Despite the egregious allegations being made against Israel, it is not seeking to kill Palestinian civilians, but rather it is specifically targeting Hamas terrorist centers and underground tunnels used for the transport of weapons and explosives in to Gaza," said Jesse Schorr of Yeshiva University. Tensions ran high between the two sides as small groups of pro-Hamas demonstrators crossed East 42nd Street with the intent to taunt and antagonize the pro-Israel demonstrators. Police rushed in to separate the protestors as an altercation appeared imminent.

Rabbi David Algaze of the Chavurat Yisroel synagogue in Forest Hills chided the NYPD for "capitulating to Muslim demands" and for "behaving leniently" with the upstarts. "The police have orders from their superiors not to offend the sensibilities of the pro-Hamas protestors. If Jewish protestors would have done the same thing, if we would have carried placards supporting terror and waved it in the faces of the Palestinian protestors we would have been arrested," he angrily observed. Commenting on the Israeli military strikes in Gaza he opined, "What is happening now in Gaza is our collective punishment for expelling the residents of Gush Katif from Jewish land. We wouldn't be conducting such an operation if we had faith in G-d and had refused to relinquish this territory to pernicious terrorists who are bent on our destruction as a nation."

Coretta James of the Christians United For Israel organization said, "I am against a temporary truce or cease fire of any kind. Israel has the moral right and obligation to defend its citizens and should finish the job of ridding Gaza of Kassam rockets. The Jewish state must stand strong in the face of mounting international pressure."